How to sew a Basic Glove
In this content I am instructing on how a basic glove is sown. I am sewing the pattern I have sown in the previous blog, ‘How to draw a basic glove pattern‘.
I will be making leather gloves. Leather gloves are made from a soft lightweight, durable leather; and these are the properties of the leather I am using, which is Springbok leather.
You can watch this content on my YouTube channel as well, I will provide the link below.
- Pattern Tracing and Cutting
- Sewing Thumb to Thumb Hole
- Sewing Fourchettes
- Sewing Finger Tops
- Hemming
Pattern Tracing and Cutting
When cutting your pattern parts out, make sure the stretch of the leather runs horizontally across the pattern parts.
Pieces cut out for each pattern part:
- Two glove body pieces (front & reversed side of pattern).
- Two thumb pieces (front & reversed side of pattern).
- Two pointing finger fourchette pieces (front & reversed side of pattern).
- Two small finger fourchette pieces (front & reversed side of pattern).
- Four middle finger fourchette pieces (two front & two reversed side of pattern).
- Four ring finger fourchette pieces (two front & two reversed side of pattern).
Sewing Thumb to Thumb Hole
- Cut line D to C on the thumb piece the same length as line D to C on the thumb hole. Line D to C on my thumb hole is 2 cm (0.78 inches), therefore I’m going to change line D to C on the thumb pattern and pieces to 2 cm, and cut the pieces from D to C.
Sewing needs: A leather sewing thread for sewing and a normal cotton thread for holding. Seam allowance is 0.25 cm (0.098 inches) and I am using a small spaced Running stitch for sewing.
- Fold the thumb piece in half and with holding stitches, hold sides together. Then, with the 1st sewing thread (thread 1), tie a knot in the leather and sew from the top of the carve to point B.
- Now with a new thread ( thread 2) sew B to C on the thumb to B to C on the thumb hole. And then continue to sew C to D on the thumb to C to D on the thumb hole.
- After that with thread 1, sew from point B to A.
- Sew the base of the thumb to the thumb hole, from the sides towards the center. If the carve of the base of thumb is too big to fit on the thumb hole, remove overlapping material from the base of the thumb. In my case the carve of the base of thumb was too big.
- You remove overlapping material by holding thumb and thumb hole together at the centers and on the side with stitches, then wear the glove and mark the material to remove from the base of the thumb.
Sewing Fourchettes
- Select the fourchettes for between the pointing finger and the middle finger.
- For both fingers, the correct fourchettes are the ones with the right side facing the finger, and the back side facing the back of the hand. The correct fourchettes are as indicated in the image.
- This same way, the rest of the fourchettes are selected.
- Place the two fourchettes against each others right side against right side and sew them together at the bottom.
- Then sew the fourchette on the glove body starting from the back slit; sew back of fourchette on the back slit until halfway to the top of the finger.
- Then sew the front of the fourchette to the front slit until halfway to the top of finger.
- The rest of the fourchettes are then sown on the same way.
Sewing Finger Tops
Tops of fingers are usually made taller than your fingers to allow adjustment to be made for a perfect fit.
- Starting with the pointing finger, adjust the back piece to your preferred height when necessary.
- Wear the glove and bring the front piece over to touch the back piece. The over hanging part off the front piece is what you should cut off.
- Adjust the fourchette to your preferred fit by marking and cutting material off from the top when necessary.
- Then close off the top of the finger by sewing the adjusted parts together.
The rest of the four fingers are therefore closed off the same way as the pointing finger.
Hemming
- On the wrong side, tie a knot in the leather along the edge of the hem.
- And then, sew the thread to the right side of the glove.
- Turn the glove to the right side, and fold the 2 cm ( 0.78 inch) hem inward; and start hemming. For hemming I am doing a Back-stitch stitching technique.
After hemming, this glove is finished to be sown and I am loving the look and fit!
